Shuttle hurdle foursome strikes gold for Newton

INDIANOLA — Morgann Eide, Abbie Barr, Liz McVey and Alexis Stout flew over the hurdles on their way to a gold medal at Thursday’s Ron Werlings Relays hosted by Indianola. Newton High’s foursome of three sophomores and one freshman won the 400-meter shuttle hurdle relay race in 1 minute, 11.59 seconds.

It was the lone event win for the Cardinal girls’ varsity track team. The Cardinals scored 72.25 points to finish third in the team standings.

Ankeny won the team title with 145.5 points followed by West Des Moines Valley with 89.75 points. Des Moines Hoover was fourth with 70 points in the eight-team field.

Newton’s 4x200 relay team of seniors Sydney Jenkins, Alex Hutchinson and Leela Spencer and McVey, a sophomore, was nipped at the finish line. Ankeny won the race in 1:50.25 with Newton finishing in 1:50.82.

The same four runners combined for third in the 4x100 relay race in 52.94 seconds. McVey, Spencer and Sydney Jenkins were joined by junior Morgan Allen to post a second-place time of 1:55.96 in the 800-meter sprint medley relay race.

Sophomore Haley Revell placed third in the shot put with a toss of 34 feet, 6 1/2 inches. Sophomore Ali Bestell finished sixth in the discus at 103 feet with Revell in seventh at 99-4. Another sophomore, Miranda Ervin, was ninth in the shot put at 30-2.

Staying with the field events, sophomore Hannah Boecker cleared the high jump bar at 4-8 for third place while Barr, a freshman, finished in a four-way tie for fourth at 4-4. Junior Kenna Winther tied for sixth in the long jump with a leap of 14-4 and freshman Lakin Jenkins was 11th at 13-5.

Freshman Rachel Rhoads ran fourth in the 400 meters in 1:07.23 with Boecker placing sixth at 1:09.26.

Eide, a sophomore, was fourth in the 100-meter high hurdles in 17.22 seconds and senior Fran Lucas took 12th in 18.23. Stout was third in the 400 hurdles in 1:17.33.

Vlada Osadcha, a junior foreign exchange student, ran fifth in the 3,000 meters in 13:49.95. She took 10th in the 800 at 3:05.28 behind teammate Audrey Lucas, a sophomore, in 3:03.48 for ninth.

Sophomore Tessa Keeton ran seventh in the 1,500 meters in 5:44.59 and freshman Caelyn Briley was eighth in 5:54.22.

Boecker was ninth in the 200 in 29.45 seconds and Barr took 10th in 29.59. Allen was 11th in the 100 meters in 14.06 second and Winther was 13th in 14.36.

Newton’s 4x800 relay team of Rhoads, Keeton, senior Kaelee Knoll and junior Ellie Horn claimed fourth in 10:50.24. Barr, Rhoads, Stout and Horn combined for fifth in the 4x400 relay in 4:31.53. The 1,600-meter distance relay team of senior Elise Axtell, freshman Teddie Brunsmann, Lakin Jenkins and Briley was fifth in 5:14.56.

In the junior varsity competition, Ankeny won with 156 points and Newton was fourth with 62 points. There were eight teams competing.

Newton won the shuttle hurdle relay race in 1:09.98 with the team of Audrey Lucas, Briley, Boecker and sophomore Morgan Altman. Audrey Lucas won the discus with a throw of 83-6 and sophomore Bailey Wall was fifth at 77-5.

Bestell won the shot put at 30-7 1/2 and sophomore Jailyn Bucklin was eighth at 25-1/2. Sophomore Madison Bleeker took third in the high jump at 4-4 and junior Sydney Hook was fourth in the long jump at 13-3 3/4.

Stout placed second in the 100-meter high hurdles in 18.06 seconds and Altman was 11th in 20.13. Winther placed fifth in the 200 meters in 20.75 seconds and sophomore Bethany Risius was 14th in 33.42.

The 4x400 relay team of senior Annie Hurt, junior Michaella Cope, Hook and Bleeker was fourth in 5:17.15. The 4x100 foursome of Axtell, Lakin Jenkins, Brunsmann and sophomore Serenity Stier was fourth in 57.31.

Taking sixth was the 4x200 relay team of Axtell, Hook, Stier and sophomore Aliza Blair in 2:10.49. Also placing sixth was the sprint medley foursome of Stier, Blair, Altman and Bleeker in 2:17.24.

Cope placed eighth in the 800 in 3:03.03. Risius was 17th in the 100 meters in 16.14 seconds and Blair tied for 19th in 16.57.

Next up for the Newton girls is the NHS Cardinal Invitational Thursday. Field events begin at 4:30 p.m. at H.A. Lynn Stadium.

Contact Jocelyn Sheets at
641-792-3121 ext. 6535
or jsheets@newtondailynews.com